Welcome to our weekly column offering perspectives on lit mag publishing, with contributions from readers, writers and editors around the world.
Sometimes when we approach our writing desk, our insides wail like a small kid, “I don’t wanna!” Like taking that huge spoonful of slimy oatmeal—I know it’s good for me but I just can’t stomach it today. Well … I’ve discovered a remedy. Instead of avoiding the plunge into that (stuck) piece by stalling with internet clicking, looking up esoteric words, asking AI to explain the ending of that thriller on Netflix, or dashing off that absolutely urgent email, for this writing session I write out my intentions. After all, it’s writing. A little woo woo? Maybe. But what’s wrong with woo woo?
A recent post in Lit Mag News by Becky Tuch, “How can The Law of Assumption help us rewrite our own stories and meet our goals?” tiptoes into our expectations for writing and how they might bring about the results we so teeth-clenchedly desire. Becky advises us to give ourselves a “mental reset.” Instead of focusing on all the publications that have rejected us, how hard it is to break in, how few writers ever really get accepted, etc., etc., start living as if we have already achieved our goals.
What I am about to suggest is a corollary. Before you groan, think about how our expectations often govern our experiences and how we’re inclined to perceive events. Very often, your self-talk and assumptions direct your experience. Without labeling it, you are often already setting and living out your intentions.
I used to think the word intention was weak. Unlike an affirmation, although a cousin, intention didn’t seem to carry a definitive declaration. To say “I intend to …” felt like a metaphysical world away from “I am …”
Surprisingly, though, I discovered that intention stems from the Latin action noun intendere and means literally “a stretching out” and more colloquially “to turn one’s attention to.”
I was even more surprised to read in the wonderful book The Power of Intention by teacher, speaker, and metaphysician Wayne Dyer a larger definition. To pair intention with power sends a message all its own, as in his subtitle: Learning to Co-Create Your World Your Way.
Who says intention is weak?
Dyer offers a much-expanded definition of intention that dispels the notion that it is paltry and limited. He credits Carlos Castenada (The Active Side of Infinity) with opening his figurative eyes to the power of intention. Castenada writes, “Intent is a force that exists in the universe.” Dyer adds: “Imagine that intention is not something you do, but rather a force that exists in the universe as an invisible field of energy!”
Intention stems from the Latin action noun intendere and means literally “a stretching out” and more colloquially “to turn one’s attention to.”
This is indeed a greater concept of intention than I’d ever thought of. We might even call it the Law of Intention. So how can we use it in our writing?
Identify Your Intentions
Your intentions set the roadmap for what you want to do or feel, for action you want to take. The first step is to identify your intentions. Here are some questions that may make you squirm but are meant to help. What is the piece you most want to turn your attention to, the one calling you? What do you want to do with this piece next that you’ve been avoiding, not giving enough time to, or excusing? Think of that Force at your elbow. How can you use it to accomplish what you intend?
If your intention is to break that persistent block, your declarations may be these:
· I will know what to do first, second, third.
· I will see the right sequence.
· I will take it in small bites.
You may know the saying, “Where attention goes, energy flows.” Our intentions carry our intent to realize a goal, objective, aim. I am always comforted by the thought, as Deepak Chopra and many other spiritual teachers tell us, that if you have the desire and intention for something, you inherently possess the means for its fulfillment.
BDA Intentions
I’ve found too that setting my intentions for how I approach the work and feel before, during, and after a writing session not only covers the bases but clarifies, pinpoints, and helps ensure the session’s success. So write all of these out beforehand, envisioning how you will/want to feel.
How to use your intentions: Read the statements over before the session and even a few times during it, especially when you’re a little stuck or need a short break. Or simply remind yourself that you’ve set your intentions.
Here are some examples.
Before:
· I intend to allow my creativity total expression in this writing.
· I intend to devote my fullest passion, attention, interest, and energy to the writing that comes through me.
· I intend to reach readers’ hearts and minds and souls through this writing.
During:
· This work flows easily, smoothly, creatively.
· I will listen for the right words.
· I will feel inspired and excited!
· I don’t have to know what to do in the future. I will know just what to do at every step.
When I was avoiding a particularly knotty section in my latest project and pacing up and down, I set my intention and keep repeating it:
· I will have all the right answers.
And I did.
After:
· I will feel good knowing I’m on the right path.
· I will know I listened to my Divine Muse.
· I will continue to set my intentions for this perfect work.
If these statements feel right to you, use them. Or draw on them as models, substituting your own words, subjects, and details.
Bonus Examples
You can set your intentions in advance for anything—an important meeting or call, a class, a make-or-break exam, a dinner, a party, a trip, a visit with your kid’s principal, a testy confrontation with your significant other, or any event that makes you want to go hide under the covers. And especially for your writing.
A few examples I’ve used in submitting and publishing my writing:
· I will know what work to submit.
· I will fulfill the submission requirements perfectly.
· If rejected, I will bounce back and send immediately to another.
· If accepted with revisions, I will do them gladly, one bite at a time.
· If accepted without revisions, I will be grateful. (And write the editor a thank you note.)
Such intention-setting is not a magic elixir but can and does help us have better experiences.
P.S. In all of these situations, my intentions were fulfilled.
Setting our intentions is a powerful way to focus our minds, quiet our doubts, and direct our thoughts to what we want to experience and accomplish. A friend shared with me three powerful words from a writing workshop:
Intention.
Attention.
No tension.
So, set your intentions by writing them down, which reinforces that mysterious connection from hand to heart to brain. Observe what happens.
Your intentions are your strength. They are a force you can use. Feel their energy, fervor, and fire; trust their rightness; and practice them. You can have a surprisingly successful session (and many more) with your powers of intention.
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I love the focus on intention! So helpful to so many.
Excellent article.
I think this approach will help not only about feeling positive about our work but also about that monster that lurks sometimes when we get in front of the keyboard and no words come out. These are some great ideas to keep you focused and working in whatever you want to pursue with as you said, intention and goals. I'd like to add to the statement of act like you have already achieved it. To do that, read the type of authors that you admire. What was their intent? Were they creating blockbuster fiction that evolved well into film? Were they creating complex narratives that explored cultures, eras, families traditions in the ways of someone like Salman Rushdie, Gabriel Garcia Marquez with the scope of a National Book Award, a Booker, or a Nobel prize? How about minimalism as of Raymond Carver? The point to me is, that if you live your writer's life with intension, you understand your work as they understood their work and you will find your intension there. So write to that level in whatever genre you desire. To me, the biggest sense of intention came from these words "Your plight, is your fight." So whatever angers you, whatever keeps you up at night, whatever brings tears of sadness (or happiness), feed those thoughts and they will give you the words to make it real. Thanks for your insightful article.